Making waves more.. wavy

[catoala]

I have 1c to 2a hair; how can I encourage my waves?

As I maybe wrote in other posts, I'll summarize it all here.

I use a silicone conditoner right now, usually I use silicone free one and protein free one. I wash my hair every two days, as I have quite an oily scalp. I use a basic gentle shampoo.

Afterwards, I wait until my hair is dry to brush it and that is all. I towel dry. Not brushing it causes tons of tangles and breakage and combing ripped my hair out a few times (seamless one) despite being gentle and doing it in sections..

Any ideas? Is there such thing as having waves, but doing all I've been doing, maybe kick out hair brushing while dry? Thanks.

[MusicalSpoons]

I highly recommend checking out the relevant texture threads and method threads - search for scrunching, plopping, LOC/LCO, CWC, WCC, Squish to Condish, ROO, 1c/2a, 2a, Wavy/wurly, etc. (I don't have time or brainpower to find and link them, sorry).

Waves want moisture but also need enough protein to hold a shape, so whatever you try, keep that in mind. Also you could investigate the Curly Girl method and find principles or methods that you can adapt to try on your own hair (the methods I mentioned are exactly that, modified parts of the CG method - and they're all about the moisture!)

[Lady Stardust]

1c/2a waves can be easy to brush straight (I’m sure it’s different for different people).

Have you tried detangling as much as possible before and during the wash? I use my fingers because combs and brushes tend to lead to breakage, for me.

I detangle immediately before the wash, then detangle again while the conditioner is in my hair. Then I rinse and leave it alone. No combing, brushing or finger detangling when it’s dry.

You might have already tried that, but if not, it’s worth a go to see if you can keep your waves.

Putting conditioner on before washing (CWC) helps to reduce tangles too (add conditioner after dry detangling and before shampooing).

[ExpectoPatronum]

Definitely skip the brushing if you want to encourage more waves. My hair is curly but even I get a much straighter texture with brushing. Have you tried scrunching your waves when wet?

[Panthera]

You have to detangle your hair just before you wash it and maybe in the shower after shampooing. Use a lot of conditioner with good slip so you won't cause breakage. Do not brush your hair after shower when it's dry.

[catoala]

I've tried it all: in shower, out of shower, before.. but everything leaves me with super messytangled hair.

[lapushka]

Yes, leaving the tangles in (and detangling once properly during the wash) is part & parcel of "encouraging waves", I'm afraid. You can always finger detangle (separate strands and getting sheds out that way). This way you'll keep the wavy texture and still detangle; best of both worlds.

But if you at all want some remnant of a wave in 1c/2a hair, then do not brush it once dry!

If you can't deal with that, just brush the waves out and go with what you got to work with.

[Lady Stardust]

I've tried it all: in shower, out of shower, before.. but everything leaves me with super messytangled hair.

Maybe more conditioner would help? Conditioning twice makes a huge difference. Either CWC (Condition, wash, condition) or WCC (wash and then condition twice) will help, if you’re not already doing that.

I don’t know whether you use a leave in conditioner and/or a curl cream but they can help too.

[ExpectoPatronum]

Seconding what lapushka said. Tangles are just a part of life with waves. You learn to tolerate it.

[lapushka]

Seconding what lapushka said. Tangles are just a part of life with waves. You learn to tolerate it.

Waves are messy, because tangles are messy. If you detangle once in the wash, be assured that your hair is good to go. And then you leave it until the next wash. But it's a different world than straight hair, that's for sure!

[Panthera]

Wavy hair will always be a bit tangled, you don't have to be able to pull a comb through your hair or even your fingers. And it's completely okay to be that way. It's just the way the waves form, the hair kind of clumps together. Don't brush and break those clumps. Of course it's more work to detangle it when you have to but oh well... that's just the way it is. :) Have you tried a light leave in or maybe rinse out oil? Dry wavy hair can look "messy", some oil or conditioner helps with it if you want more smoother look. But it's also completely okay to have a bit messy looking natural hair. I'm getting a feeling your hair is not as bad as you think. I'd love to see a picture.

[milosmomma]

I agree that if you want waves you must accept some level of tangles. My 2b waves get the waviest when I shampoo(I use sulfates but I dont know if that's relevant) and condition twice with silicone free(I know this is relevant because of recently using cones and having much less waves) with a roo in between the 2 conditioners. I also second looking into scrunching or using a diffuser. I have tried plopping but never got really good results but I know alot of people have great success. I think you just have to detangle before and during your washing process and just accept and let it have the tangles. Theres really no such thing as tangle free waves or curls. Once I brush or comb after a wash its bye bye waves :lol: when I wear my hair wavy I cant run my fingers through it

[Corvana]

I figure, if I can easily get my fingers through my roots, then it's fine :laugh:. I do have less tangles now after ~1.5 years of treating my hair like it's wavy, because when I'd brush it so much before I'd break up the clumps and in their need to get back together again they'd tangle like crazy because I'd disrupted them. They just could lay together properly anymore!

So I have less tangles overall, and it took about a year for that to happen. But that's just me, there's nothing saying that will happen to anyone else.

And I 100% still haven tangles! I generally finger detangle the first half of the week if I detangle at all, and the second half I brush because my waves are gone on their own by then. I brush right before I wash, and gently comb with loads of conditioner in the shower, and then I don't detangle it at all for a full day at least (but usually I don't bother for half the week because it's easier!). As long as I can comb the scalp hair with my fingers so I can bun, it's all good!

[Lady Stardust]

I figure, if I can easily get my fingers through my roots, then it's fine :laugh:. I do have less tangles now after ~1.5 years of treating my hair like it's wavy, because when I'd brush it so much before I'd break up the clumps and in their need to get back together again they'd tangle like crazy because I'd disrupted them. They just could lay together properly anymore!

So I have less tangles overall, and it took about a year for that to happen. But that's just me, there's nothing saying that will happen to anyone else.

And I 100% still haven tangles! I generally finger detangle the first half of the week if I detangle at all, and the second half I brush because my waves are gone on their own by then. I brush right before I wash, and gently comb with loads of conditioner in the shower, and then I don't detangle it at all for a full day at least (but usually I don't bother for half the week because it's easier!). As long as I can comb the scalp hair with my fingers so I can bun, it's all good!

I’m so glad you posted this because it makes me feel much better about what my hair is doing today! I decided to try having it straight when I washed it yesterday but, same as you, it’s clumping back together and is just tangled and stringy. I was honestly despairing of my hair this morning and detangled just the roots to put it up and went off in a sulk.

I think you might be my hairy godmother Corvana :)

[school of fish]

I'm paying attention to this thread, because my hair is transitioning from 40 years of 1a to a definite 2b/c, and as the waves begin to overtake the straight I think I might have to adapt my routine. I know there are wavy threads out there but I'm finding this one particularly helpful! :)

[Tinyponies]

Knowing that it’s ok between washes to not be able to get my fingers through my hair changes everything. That’s not what I was brought up to think. Gosh.

Mind blown again, off to process that. Thank you guys.

[Corvana]

I’m so glad you posted this because it makes me feel much better about what my hair is doing today! I decided to try having it straight when I washed it yesterday but, same as you, it’s clumping back together and is just tangled and stringy. I was honestly despairing of my hair this morning and detangled just the roots to put it up and went off in a sulk.

I think you might be my hairy godmother Corvana :)


Knowing that it’s ok between washes to not be able to get my fingers through my hair changes everything. That’s not what I was brought up to think. Gosh.

Mind blown again, off to process that. Thank you guys.

To be honest I only figured it out for myself due to my executive dysfunction (a side effect of ADHD and/or depression, of which I have both, that makes actually Doing Things very difficult). I'm generally pretty low energy, so the best I could do most days was finger comb my scalp and then just cram the rest in a bun. After doing that for several months, though, I noticed that in general I had less tangling to deal with when I could detangle, and my waves stayed a bit more intact to boot. But even if it's a week where my waves are like "lol nope", it's still less tangly overall (still tangly! I want to be clear that I definitely still have plenty of tangles), and if my hair's in a bun you can't see any tangles that are there anyway.

The only time I'm annoyed is when my hair feels I guess grippy? When I use too much gel and I can't even get through my scalp hair, then I consider it a problem. But even then it's just a small one (I just have an ultra extra messy bun LOL).

[milosmomma]

I think the less tangles over time comes from less damage from trying to make your hair submit into what YOU think it should do vs what it is trying to do and wants to do. Detangling it, it trying to wave and then repeated detangling could be damaging. Causing more tangles due to the damaged strands tangling up with healthy strands which in turn get damaged when you pull them apart again. Just let it be what it is and give it what it wants and your hair (and you) will be happier in the long run.

[Suortuva]

I'll join this thing, this is definitely something I'm gonna do now.

There's so much waviness going on in my hair, and I like it too, I just have been lazy. So now I'm gonna brush my hair only just before and during the wash and let it air dry without touching. I usually let it air dry anyway, and I don't really need to touch it. I have done this a couple of times now, and the results are interesting. I was thinking that the leave in products I use makes my hair straightener, but it seems not to be the products but the other things I do...

Usually my hair tries to make waves even after brushing and so on, so let's see what happens when I let it do it's own thing.

[milosmomma]

Yea sometimes coney serums and leave ins can weigh down the waves, I have noticed that as well.

[MusicalSpoons]

To be honest I only figured it out for myself due to my executive dysfunction (a side effect of ADHD and/or depression, of which I have both, that makes actually Doing Things very difficult). I'm generally pretty low energy, so the best I could do most days was finger comb my scalp and then just cram the rest in a bun. After doing that for several months, though, I noticed that in general I had less tangling to deal with when I could detangle, and my waves stayed a bit more intact to boot. But even if it's a week where my waves are like "lol nope", it's still less tangly overall (still tangly! I want to be clear that I definitely still have plenty of tangles), and if my hair's in a bun you can't see any tangles that are there anyway.

The only time I'm annoyed is when my hair feels I guess grippy? When I use too much gel and I can't even get through my scalp hair, then I consider it a problem. But even then it's just a small one (I just have an ultra extra messy bun LOL).


I think the less tangles over time comes from less damage from trying to make your hair submit into what YOU think it should do vs what it is trying to do and wants to do. Detangling it, it trying to wave and then repeated detangling could be damaging. Causing more tangles due to the damaged strands tangling up with healthy strands which in turn get damaged when you pull them apart again. Just let it be what it is and give it what it wants and your hair (and you) will be happier in the long run.

Huh. That's definitely something to think about! I generally can't stand non-detangled hair, though some days it stays uncombed and often in the sleep bun due to lack of physical energy ... It's not even because of having been taught that hair should be tangle-free, it's part of the (now mostly suppressed) perfectionist aspect of my personality needing the bun to look and feel mostly neat - not perfect, I've come to accept, but still neat. Interesting.

I still can't see myself styling it wavy though; I really don't have it in me to be experimenting and my hair really does feel moisturised enough with my current routine.

[Kat-Rinnè Naido]

I'm so glad you posted this question.

I have curls and waves. The longer my hair get the more dissatisfied I sometimes tend to feel. As I cannot get it to curl the way it used to. This is when I remind myself that my hair is more healthier and hydrated than it has ever been.

Sleekness and curliness don't go. Clumps are there to give hair the definition it needs, separating clumps causes hair to loose the definition and sometimes causes frizz. As they need to huddle together to stay hydrated. I separate during my first conditioning under running water (it does mean using more water) and then condition again leaving some of the conditioner on my hair to continue into my LOC which I do in stages as the hair dries.

You have to find what works for your hair as well as the look you are comfortable with. Sometimes the both may not be the same so you have to work towards what your hair needs.

Good luck.